Category Archives: 2′ gauge

With the tips and ruined buildings of derelict quarries visible in most directions from our cottage at Rhyd Ddu, it seemed almost rude not to go and explore some of them. One of the largest, on the flanks of Snowdon … Continue reading →

Yesterday, the family trooped down to Porthmadog to visit the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway. My parents are sharing the cottage with us, and either by accident or design we had contrived to book a week coinciding with my dad’s birthday. … Continue reading →

We’re in holiday for a week in a fantastic cottage at Rhyd Ddu. You can see the Garratts of the Welsh Highland Railway passing from the garden, but a short scramble up the hill gets a better view. Also visible … Continue reading →

…well, it’s an obvious answer isn’t it? This Baguley-Drewry diesel mechanical is described as a “60hp” type but the engine is actually rated at 72hp. It was built around 1980 for the internal 2’6″ gauge network at Royal Naval Armaments … Continue reading →

A month or so ago, I had an email from the Ffestiniog Railway letter service asking about using a photo I’d taken on one of set of covers marking the issue of stamps featuring Welsh castles. The image in question … Continue reading →

About this blog

Fairlight Works was first set up in 2006, when I returned to narrow gauge railway modelling after a break of several years, to document the construction of an OO9 (4mm:ft scale on 9mm gauge track) layout set at Fairlight around the Kent/Sussex border on the south coast of England. The concept was inspired by the High Weald Light Railway, which was the background to an O16.5 (7mm:ft scale on 16.5mm gauge track) layout called Hawkhurst, built in the 1990s by Dave Holman.

For a time I owned one of Dave's later layouts - Cranbrook - another part of the same fictional railway, but found that 7mm scale didn't suit me as well as I'd hoped. Through various other diversions of scale and theme the idea of the HWLR always stayed with me.

And so after a quiet period for personal modelling, while establishing Narrow Planet as a supplier of narrow gauge kits and etched items, I've decided to once again try my hand at building Fairlight in 009. Hopefully this time with more success.